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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



UNITEU STATES OF AMEBIOA. 



[From the Albany Hand Book. Copyright, H. P. Phelps, 1889] 




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The^Capitol at Albany, 



THE great structure which towers majestically from the brow of the 
hill overlooking the Hudson at Albany, needs no cicerone \.o announce 
its name, no guide book to designate its object. Its fame as the greatest 
and grandest legislative building of modern times is widely spread ; and 
from far and near, come thousands annually, to view its grandeur of 
design, its beauty of ornamentation ; and, like the queen of Sheba, after 
her call upon King Solomon, they go home, declaring that the one-half 
had not been told them. The foresight, which makes possible an ade- 
quate comprehension of the needs, a century hence, of a state like this, 
is of no common order ; and it is no wonder that ideas and plans based 
upon such prescience, appear to many, wild and extravagant. It is this 
unfortunate but not unnatural shortsightedness, that has given birth to 
much of the opposition which the building of the Capitol encountered. 
In time, all will agree that it is none too grand, none too beautiful, and 
none too costly for the chief edifice of the grandest, the proudest, the 
most prosperous and the most progressive state in the American Union. 
But to have started with the proposition that it was to cost fifteen or 
twenty millions would have been hopeless. It has taken years to educate 
the public up to the idea of what is only sufficient in this matter, and it is 
an actual fact that some have not reached that stage of advancement yet. 

History. 

The old Capitol (built in 1806-8) at an expense of $110,685.42, had been 
found wholly inadequate, and there was much discussion about a new leg- 
islative building and where it should be erected. New York city had long 
coveted the Capitol, but the central and western portions of the state, while 
not altogether satisfied with having it where it is, were still more averse 
to seeing it moved down the river. The consequence was, it remained 
at Albany, which, after all, is the most convenient, and, so far as popula- 
tion is concerned, the most central of any eligible point that can be 
named. The legislature has met here continuously since 1797 ; in the 
Stadt Huis, corner of Broadway and Hudson avenue first, and afterward 
in the old Capitol, which stood till 1883 on a site in front of the present 
building. 

The first definite action taken by the legislature on the subject of a 
new Capitol was April 24, 1863, when Senator James A. Bell, from the 
committee on public buildings, offered a resolution (which was adopted) 



THE CAPITOL. 



that the trustees of the Capitol and the chairman of the committee on 
public buildings be authorized to procure suitable plans for a new Capitol, 
and report to the next legislature. They did so, recommending the plans 
submitted by Fuller & Jones. Early in 1865, a committee was appointed' 
by the senate to ascertain by correspondence with various municipalities 
on what terms the necessary ground and buildings could be obtained. 
New York showed her desire for the honor, by offering a site on the Bat- 
tery, or at City Hall Park, or in Tompkins Square, or in Central Park, or 
in any public place, and also proposed to erect all the necessary buildings 
free of expense to the state; and, in addition, build an executive man- 
sion on Fifth avenue, opposite Central Park. Yonkers, Saratoga, Athens, 
Whitestown, Argjle and Sing Sing made liberal offers ; Buffalo, Oswego 
and Ithaca declined to entertain the proposition, as did Sandy Hill. *' If," 
wrote the worthy president of that virtuous village, "the time has come 
when our Capitol is to go to the highest bidder, like most everything that 
has any connection with our present legislature, then I would frankly 
say that our people are not the ones to offer large bribes or inducements 
for the purpose of building up their place or people to the detriment and 
inconvenience of all the rest of the people of the state." 

The first committee (appointed April 24, 1863) had suggested in their 
propositions for plans that they should be made with reference to the 
square about the old building as the site for the new one. The city of 
Albany now offered to convey to the state the lot adjoining, occupied by 
the Congress Hall block, or any other lands in the city required for the 
purpose. 

On the ist of May, 1865, an act was passed (chapter 648) authorizing 
the erection of a new Capitol, whenever the city of Albany should deed 
over the land proposed, providing for the appointment of three commis- 
sioners, and appropriating $10,000 for the commencement and prosecu- 
tion of the work. On the 14th of April, 1866, the city having made good 
its offer, at an expense of $igo,ooo, an act was passed ratifying and con- 
firming the location of the Capitol, and May 3d of the same year, Hamil- 
ton Harris, John V. L. Pruyn, of Albany, and O. B. Latham, of Seneca 
Falls, were appointed New Capitol commissioners. On the 22d of April, 
1867, an act was passed appropriating $250,000 for the new Capitol, but 
providing that no part should be expended until a plan had been agreed 
upon not to cost, when completed, more than four millions. The plan sub- 
mitted by Thomas Fuller was adopted, and he was appointed architect, 
and William J. McAlpine consulting engineer. 

Work Begun. — On theqth of December, 1867, the excavating was begun 
on the corner of Hawk and State streets, by John Bridgford, who had 
under him 100 men. 

On the 19th of May, 1868, an act was passed appropriating an addi- 
tional $250,000, and adding to the commission Messrs. James S. Thayer, 
Alonzo B. Cornell, William A. Rice, James Terwilliger and John T. Hud- 
son. The commission were also authorized to take as additional land 
one-half the block adjoining Congress Hall block on the west, and to 
change the plans at their discretion, with this proviso : That if they were 



ALBANY, N. Y. 



SO changed that the building would cost more than four millions, the com- 
missioners were not to proceed to construction till such plans were 
approved by the legislature. Meantime work had been delayed for a year 
in order that the additional lands might be secured. On the 2d of Octo- 
ber, 1868, the commissioners having come to the conclusion that prepar- 
ing the land was not included in the term " construction," the demolition 
of houses on State, Washington, Spring and Hawk streets was begun, 
and, in December following, 400 men and 200 teams were employed carry- 
ing the earth that had been excavated and depositing it down the bank at 
the corner of Swan and Canal streets. The enlarged plans, prepared by 
Fuller & Laver, were duly reported to the legislature, and approved by 
act of May 10, i86g. 

The Foundation. — The first stone in the foundation was laid July 7, 
1869, by John V. L. Pruyn. This foundation, although, of course, out of 
sight, and scarcely thought of by the ordinary visitor, is a wonder in 
itself. In the first place, excavations were made to an average depth of 
15 43-100 feet below the surface. Then a bed of concrete, 4 feet thick, was 
laid, constituting a stone floor which will grow harder and harder as time 
rolls on. The sub-basement extends down 19 feet 4 inches, and contains 
735,000 cubic feet of stone, while the brick walls, from 32 inches to 5 feet 
thick, contain between ten and eleven million bricks. The foundation of 
the main tower is no feet square at the base, tapering to 70 feet square at 
the basernent floor. In this sub-basement are no less than 144 different 
apartments, occupied in part by the heating, ventilating and electric 
lighting apparatus. The boilers were formerly here but they have been 
removed to a boiler house on Lafayette street, one block north and con- 
nected with the Capitol by an underground conduit six feet high. 

The Corner Stone was laid with great ceremony by the Grand Lodge 
of Free and Accepted Masons on the 24th of June, 1871. The exercises 
took place in the midst of a drenching rain, but were said to have been 
witnessed by at least 20,000 persons. Addresses were made by Hon, 
Hamilton Harris and Gov. John T. Hoffman. 

Changes in Commissioners.— In April, 187 1, the commission was so 
changed as to be constituted as follows: Hamilton Harris, William C. 
Kingsley, William A. Rice, Chauncey M. Depew, Delos De Wolf and 
Edwin A. Merritt. In February, 1875, Mr. Hamilton .Harris, who had 
been chairman of the board for nearly ten years, resigned. Resident 
here in Albany, and from the first deeply interested in having a Capitol 
worthy of the Empire State, his services during the critical periods in 
the building's history have been of incalculable value, and after his 
resignation, as chairman of the finance committee of the senate at a time 
when a most determined opposition to any further appropriations was 
made by the New York city press, he again fought the battles of the 
Capitol through to victory. On the 21st of June, 1875, the entire old 
board was abolished, and the lieutenant-governor (William Dorsheimer), 
the canal auditor (Francis S. Thayer), and the attorney-general- (Daniel 
Pratt), were constituted a new board. Of this board, Lieut. -Gov. 
Dorsheimer took an active interest in completing and furnishing the 



THE CAPITOL. 



interior, and much of its present sumptuousness, especially the assembly- 
chamber, is due to his taste. This board was superseded by the succes- 
sors to these several offices as follows : Lieut. -Gov. George G. Hoskins, 
from Jan. i, 1880 to Jan. i, 1S83, when he was succeeded by Lieut. -Gov. 
David B. Hill; Canal Auditor George W. Schuyler from Jan. i, 1876, 
to May 20, 1880, when he was succeeded by John A. Place, who 
held the office till it was abolished in 1883; Attorney-Generals Charles 

5. Fairchild, from Nov. 2, 1875, Augustus Schoonmaker, Jr., from Nov. 

6, 1877; Hamilton Ward, from Nov. 4, 1879; Leslie W. Russell, from 
Nov. 8, 1881. 

In 1883 a law was passed creating the office of Capitol commissioner, 
abolishing the office of superintendent of the Capitol, and empowering the 
single commissioner to take full charge of the work, at a yearly salary of 
$7,000. This bill was signed on the 30th of March, 1883, and the same 
day Gov. Cleveland sent to the senate the nomination of Isaac G. Perry. 
He was confirmed April 5. 

By act of May 23, 1885, a board of advisory commissioners was created 
to consist of the governor (David B. Hill), the attorney-general (Denis 
O'Brien), the president of the senate (Dennis McCarthy), and the speaker 
of the assembly (George Z. Erwin, and in succession, James W. Husted 
and Fremont Cole) under whose instructions the commissioner was to 
act. This board was superseded by the act of June g, 1888, whereby the 
lieutenant-governor (Edward F. Jones), the president pro tern, of the 
senate (J. Sloat Fassett), the speaker of the assembly (Fremont Cole), and 
the commissioner of the Capitol (Isaac G. Perry) were appointed supervis- 
ing commissioners. 

Changes in Superintendents. — In December, 1872, John Bridgford, 
the first superintendent, was retired, and June 11, 1873, William J. 
McAlpine, w^ho from the beginning of the work had been the consulting 
engineer, was appointed superintendent, and remained such till May 29, 
1874, when James W. Eaton was appointed in his place, and held the 
position till the office was abolished, as just stated. 

By an act passed May 2, 1883, the governor, lieutenant-governor and 
speaker were constituted trustees of all the state buildings in Albany, 
including the finished portion of the Capitol, They appointed as superin- 
tendent of public buildings (including the Capitol) Mr. C. B. Andrews 
who held office till June i, i88g, when he was succeeded by Edward K. 
Burnham. 

Changes in Architects. — With the abolition of the old commission in 
1875 came a change in architects, Mr. Thomas Fuller being superseded 
by an advisory board, appointed July 15, 1875, consisting of Frederick 
Law Olmsted, Leopold Eidlitz and Henry H. Richardson. Up to this 
time the exterior walls had been carried up upon the Fuller plans, a 
working model of which had been constructed at a cost of $3,000. and 
which was on exhibition for several years. Pictures of the Capitol as it 
was to have been had also gone broadcast over the land and world. This 
plan was that of the Italian Renaissance, which was now modified to the 
Romanesque, but work had not proceeded far when the legislature passed 



ALBANY, N. Y. 



an act directing a return to the original style and that the building be 
carried up to the roof in accordance therewith. This has been done so 
far as possible, the result being what is called the Free Renaissance. 

The act of May 23, 1885, made the commissioner of the Capitol (Isaac 
G. Perry)the sole architect thereof, with power to employ an architect 
for temporary service. 

Occupied by the Legislature.— The Capitol was first occupied by 
the legislature Jan, 7, 1879, the senate meeting on the second floor, in 
the room originally intended for the court of appeals, the assembly in 
the assembly chamber. The same evening a grand reception was given 
by the citizens of Albany, when 8, coo people were present, Gilmore's 
band, of New York, and Austin's orchestra, of Albany, furnished 
the music. The supper was served under a canopy in the central 
court. 

The formal occupation took place on the evening of Feb. 12, 1879, 
when in presence of both houses of the legislature, the court of appeals, 
the state officers and others, assembled in the assembly chamber, prayer 
was offered by Rt, Rev. William Croswell Doane, D. D., and addresses 
were delivered by Lieut. -Gov. William Dorsheimer, Speaker Thomas G. 
Alvord and Hon, Erastus Brooks. The senate chamber was first 
occupied March 10, 1881. Other parts of the building have been 
occupied as they have been made ready for the various officers and 
departments. 

Description. 

No matter from what side you approach Albany, the building makes 
itself strikingly evident, rearing its heavy masses and sharp roofs into 
the sky from the top of the hill. The impression produced varies with 
various persons. One accomplished writer finds it " not unlike that made 
by the photographs of those gigantic structures in the northern and east- 
ern parts of India, which are seen in full series on the walls of the South 
Kensington, and by their barbaric profusion of ornamentation and true 
magnificence of design give the stay-at-home Briton some faint inkling 
of the empire which has invested his queen with another and more high- 
sounding title. Yet when close at hand the building does not bear out 
this connection with Indian architecture of the grand style; it might be 
mere chance that at a distance there is a similarity; or it may be that the 
smallness of size in the decorations as compared to the structure itself 
explains fully why that Oriental architecture should have recurred to 
mind. As in the great temple enclosures of India, there is in the quad- 
rangular scheme of the Capitol a tendency to confuse the eye by the num- 
ber of projections, arches, pillars, shallow recesses, and what not. which 
variegate the different fa9ades. The confusion is not entirely displeasing: 
it gives a sense of unstinted riches, and so far represents exactly the 
spirit that has reared the pile." 

On the other hand, Mr. Edward A. Freeman, the English historian, 
was, by the general look of the city, carried so completely into another 
part of the world "that if anyone had come up and told me in French, 



THE CAPITOL, 



old or new, that the new Capitol was ' la chateau de Monseigneur le due 
d'Albanie,' I could almost have believed him." 

The situation is a most commanding one. The Capitol square, which 
embraces all the land between Eagle street on the east and Capitol place on 
the west, and between Washington avenue on the north and State street on 
the south, is 1,034 feet long by 330 feet wide, and contains 7 84-100 acres. 
The elevation of Capitol place is 155 feet above the level of the Hudson, 
and the ground falls off to the eastward 51 feet. In front. State street 
stretches away toward the river, one of the broadest and handsomest 
avenues in the country. 

The Size of the structure impresses the beholder at once. It is 300 
feet north and south, by 390 feet east and west, and without the porticos 
covers 2 68-100 acres. The walls are 108 feet high from the water table, 
and all this is worked out of solid granite, brought, most of it, from Hal- 
lowell, Maine. There are other buildings which, in the mere matter of 
area, exceed this one. The capitol at Washington, for instance, covers a 
little over three and a half acres, but it is of marble and of sandstone 
painted white. The new city hall in Philadelphia covers nearly four and 
a half acres, but that is also of marble. The government buildings at 
Ottawa, Canada, are of sandstone. All lack the massive effect which this 
great pile of granite produces. Its outer wall, at the base, is 16 feet 4 
inches thick. The height of the four corner pavilions is 224 feet ; roof 
line from street 176 feet. The apex of the main tower, as now planned, 
390 feet. 

The Central Court is 137 by 92 feet, extending an open space to the 
sky, and admitting much needed light and air. Above the six dormer 
windows that open on the court, and that are above the fourth or gallery 
story, are sculptured the arms of six families that have become more or 
less distinguished in the history of the state. 

The Stuyvesant arms are on the north side, west. The carving is as follows : party 
per fess argent and gules : in upper a hunting hound in pursuit of a hare. In lower a 
stag current. Crest, a demi stag issuing from a royal crown. Motto : Jovi xtr(Mtat 
fidere qvam homini. 

The Schuyler arms are on the north side, middle. The carving is as follows : Vert a 
cubit arm habited issuing from the sinister base point holding a falcon proper. Ci-est, 
a falcon proper gorged with a fillet, strings reflexed. 

T")e Livingston arms are on the north side, east. The carving is : Quarterly, first 
and fourth quarter argent three gilli-fiowers ; second quarter quarterly first and last 
gules a chevron argent, second and third azure three martlets ; third quarter or. a bend 
avgent between six billets. Crest, a demi Hercules with club in dexter baud and the 
sinister strangling a serpent. Motto, Si je puis. 

The Jay arms are on the south side, west. The carving is : argent a chevron gules, in 
chief a demi sun in splendor, between two mullets argent below, in base a rock proper 
surmounted with a large bird close. Crest, a cross calvary. 

The Clinton arms are. on the south side middle and are carved as follows : argent six 
cross crosslets fitchee, three, two, one, on a chief two muUets, pierced. Crest, a plume 
of six ostrich feathers on a ducal crown. 

The Tompkins arms are on the south side, east. The carving is : argent on a chevron 
gules between three birds close, as many cross crosslets. Crest, a luiicorn's head armed 
and maned and gorged with a chaplet laurel. 

While no patriotic soul objects to giving due honor to those who have 
served the state, the idea of carving private arms upon a public building 



has not in it the exact " elements of popularity." The carving can best 
be seen from the upper stories. 

The first or ground story, which is nearly on a level with Washington 
avenue and State street, is devoted to committee rooms and offices, else- 
where specified. Ascent to the other stories may be made by elevators, 
but visitors will generally prefer to walk up one of the grand staircases. 

The Assembly Staircase, on the north side, is of Dorchester freestone, 
of soft drab color ; its ascent is easy, its design vigorous and scholarly. 
When first erected it was considered a master-piece. It was, however, 
faulty in construction or material, and has been the subject of costly 
repairs. It has since been surpassed in some respects, by the senate 
staircase. 

The Golden Corridor, reached on the second floor by the assembly 
staircase, was intended, by its Oriental splendor, to relieve the massive 
effect of so much granite; but the soft sandstone did not sustain the 
weight above it, and after much repairing it must take its place among 
the mistakes, without which no building of this magnitude was ever 
erected. 

On the right of the corridor is the room originally intended for the 
court of appeals, but declined by the judges as unsuitable for their pur- 
pose. It is 60 feet square and 25 feet high, subdivided into parallelo- 
grams, one twice the width of the other, by a line of red granite columns 
carrying with broad low arches a marble wall. The watls are of sand- 
stone, visible in some places but covered in most with a decoration in 
deep red, and with the tall wainscoting of oak, which occupies the wall 
above the dado of sandstone. The ceiling is a superb construction in 
carved oak carried on a system of beams diminishing in size from the 
great girders supported by great braces, and finally closed by oaken 
panels, profusely carved. The senate occupied this room previous to the 
completion of the senate chamber, and it has since been used for various 
purposes. When the state library building was razed, this room and 
the golden corridor were utilized temporarily for library purposes. It 
is now occupied by the second division of the court of appeals. 

The Assembly Chamber. — Ascending another flight of the staircase, 
we come to what is, without doubt, the grandest legislative hall in the 
world, the assembly chamber, 84 by 140 feet, including the galleries, 
although the chamber proper is but 84 by 55 feet. Four great pillars, 
four feet in diameter, of red granite, originally sustained the largest 
groined stone arch in the world, the key-stone being 56 feet from the 
floor. Of this room, as it was at first constructed, Mr. Schuyler said: 

" The perspective of the room is so arranged that from the entrance one looks 
through the large end of the telescope, as it were, down vistas framed in arches nar- 
rowing and vaults hanging lower as they recede, from the great red pillars on either 
hand, along the vast and ever-varying surfaces of the ceilings, their creamy sandstone 
faces divided by the sweeping lines of the deeper toned ribs and arches that uphold 
them, and fretted with wide belts of ornament climbing their cUmbing courses, touched 
with the gleam of gold and standing out f'-om hollows filled with deep ultra marine 
and burning vermillion, to the dark backward and abysm of the remotest vault. 
Through the lower arches one sees the openings of the windows which flood the tran- 
sept, not with the dim, religious light of old cathedrals, but with naked and open 



THE CAPITOL, 



daylight. Around them, wheel the intricate arabesques of their arches defined against 
a ground of vermillion and encircled with bands of gold. Above and between the 
lower three, beneath the broad belt which is some day to carry a sculptured procession, 
the whole wall is covered with arabesques in a field of dull red. Above the upper 
arcade are glimpses of the draperies and the attitudes of colossal painted figures. 
" One feels at once in this great stone room that he is in the presence of a noble mon- 
ument, and that in what a musician would call the 'dispersed harmony' of this hierarchy 
of ordered masses, and this balance and opposition of sweeping curves there 
has been achieved in the America of the nineteenth century a work not un- 
worthy to be compared with what has been done in more famous build- 
ing ages. "When the shock of such an impression has subsided, and he has 
time to examine the sources of this effect, he finds them in the general 
conception of the room rather than in any of its parts, or in any aggregation of them 
less than the whole. Here is a distinctly Gothic room, which in its plan has so many 
resemblances to a mediaeval church that it cannot be described without using the terms 
of ecclesiology. which yet has probably never reminded a single visitor of a church. Its 
civic character has been impressed upon it by the force of design alone, and mainly by 
the modeling of its masses, after the noble arrangement which this modeling assists. 
There is a vigor in it which reminds one of Romanesque or early Gothic, but it has none 
of the rudeness of Romanesque vaulted architecture, and none of the tentative imper- 
fection of early Gothic work. Except in one ccmspicuous instance, the structure is 
completely developed, and complete development is the mark of perfected Gothic. 
This completeness, however, nowhere degenerates into the attenuation that comes of 
excessive subdivision— nowhere into a loss of that sense of power which belongs to 
unhewn masses fulfilling structural necessities. There is nothing here of which one 
may say: ' 'Twere to consider too curiously, to consider so.' Neither is there anything 
of that ascetic intensity which most of all, has set its stamp upon the ecclesiastical 
work of the middle ages. This work is as day-lit as Grecian Doric. It is frank and 
manly and it is eminently alive— distinctly a product of our time." 

Unhappily this magnificent dream of the architect was almost as 
unsubstantial as the visions of a night. For some reason (and upon this 
point authorities differ) the stone ceiling soon became unsafe ; the 
stones cracked and small pieces fell. It was feared that sooner or later 
the whole of it would come down with a crash. 

A commission of experts reported that it was best to take the ceiling 
down. The architects protested, and offered to repair it at their own 
expense; they were allowed to do so, replaced the defective stones, and 
for a year or two all anxiety subsided; stones continued to fall, however, 
and finally, to the regret of all admirers of the superb in architecture, 
the stone ceiling was removed in 1888, and the present one of wood 
substituted. 

The Allegorical Pictures. — No one feature of the Capitol caused 
more comment than the pictures that occupied the upper portion of the 
north and south walls of this chamber before the stone ceiling was 
removed. They were painted by the late William M. Hunt, one of 
the greatest of American artists, and possessed a melancholy interest 
from the fact that they were the only work of the kind he ever did. 
He received for his services the sum of $15,000, One represented the 
Flight of Night, the other The Discoverer. The space covered by each was 
15 by 45 feet. These pictures, costly and beautiful as they once were, are 
now hidden from sight by the wooden ceiling; but before that was substi- 
tuted they had become seriously damaged and defaced by the failure of the 
pigments to adhere to the stone. It has been said that while Mr, Hunt was 
at work he obtained from his assistant a solemn promise that if their 



effort proved a failure, he would paint out both pictures in a single night. 
Failure came at last, not an artistic failure, but a mechanical and prac- 
tical failure. Mr. Hunt did not live to see it. He committed suicide on 
the Isles of Shoals, Sept. 8, 1879. (See Atlantic Monthly, May, 1879; 
July, 1880.) 

The South Side Corridors. — The executive chambers, or the gover- 
nor's rooms, are in the southeast corner on the second or entrance floor. 
On the way to this portion of the Capitol one is struck by two very 
important differences in construction between the southern corridors and 
the corresponding passages on the north side of the building. These 
differences consist in the use of colored marbles here for wainscoting, 
and in the admission of light by windows rising from the top of the 
wainscot above the level of the eye, and surrounding the doors leading 
into the various committee rooms that receive direct light. The richness 
and variety of color is truly wonderful, and it contains in low tones more 
combinations than the most elaborate palettes of a painter could reach in 
a lifetime. The most prominent tints are shades and hues of red, and 
these are relieved by numberless colder tones, grays and browns pre- 
dominating. 

The Governor's Room is 60 feet long by 40 wide ; the walls are 
wainscoted to a height of 15 or 16 feet with mahogany, arranged in 
square panels surmounted with a band of carving and a carved moulding 
above. The space between this and the ceiling of mahogany is covered 
with hangings of Spanish leather, which harmonize, in soft tones of 
golden brown and red and olive, with the mahogany. On one side of the 
room is an enormous fireplace having a shelf and several emblematic 
panels of elaborate carving above it. The ceiling is composed of beams, 
which divide the' space into panels, having rails perforated in the form of 
a ^z^rtZ/r/ci?'/ surrounding the panel. There are convenient arrangements 
to connect with the offices of the executive attendants and the bill room 
by small doors in the paneling, and altogether the room is well adapted 
to the reception of persons having business to transact with the governor 
and his assistants. 

The Corridor of Columns. — Ascending from this floor by the commo- 
dious and easily running elevator, we find ourselves in a corridor similar 
to that previously described, which leads into a broader one, running east 
and west along the north side of the senate chamber. This last named 
corridor, which is after plans furnished by Mr. Eidlitz, is entirely lined 
and vaulted with sandstone, and has a row of columns in the centre, 
above which, there is a double arched vault extending to either w^ll. 
Upon this spacious corridor open the main doors leading to the senate 
chamber. 

The Senate Chamber, in the richness and variety of its decoration, is 
equalled only by the famous St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice. Its treat- 
ment was assigned to Mr. Richardson, and of his success there can be no 
question. The space in which he had to work was 60 feet in breadth, 
nearly 100 in length, and about 50 in height. He has reduced the plan 
of the room to a nearly square form, cutting oH from either end of it the 



lO THE CAPITOL, 



lobbies, above which are placed the galleries, opening on the chamber 
proper. These lobbies, opening from the corridors, are simple in treat- 
ment. Yet by a slight similarity in detail they, in a measure, prepare 
the eye for the senate chamber itself. They are wainscoted with light 
marble, arranged panelwise in slabs and rails, and are ceiled with quar- 
tered oak. From the west lobby opens the lieutenant-governor's room, 
comfortably fitted up with a carved and polished mahogany wainscot and 
fireplace, and an oak ceiling supported on corbels of marble. By the 
arrangement of the galleries over the lobbies, the actual fioorspace of the 
senate chamber proper is reduced to about 60 feet by 55. 

Entering on this floor by the main doorway from the vaulted corridor 
above described we first see the south wall, from which the chamber is 
lighted by three large openings rising from a level with the floor and six 
lesser openings near the ceiling. Two of the large windows are filled 
with disks of stained glass, which shade from browns and rubies near 
the floor through olives and golden hues to the semi-circular tops, which 
are filled with varied iridescent and opalescent tint. The central window 
is obscured by the reredos behind the president's desk, which rises to the 
spring of the window arches but does not cover the semi-circular window- 
head, which, like the others, is filled with many hued opalescent glass. 
The stained glass has been used not only to add brilliancy of color, but 
to avoid the glare of light that has proved so objectionable in some of the 
other rooms. 

The Mexican Onyx Paneling. — Above the three arches of the lower 
windows for about twelve feet (perpendicularly) the wall is paneled with 
Mexican onyx. These panels are cut into slabs three feet square and are 
separated, or rather framed, by slightly convex rails of Sienna (Italy) 
marble, the mottled reds, yellows and browns of which contrast with the 
tints of the onyx. For additional support the slabs are backed up with 
slabs of ordinary marble. The variety of color displayed in the onyx is 
very remarkable, the prevailing tints being mottled and semi-translucent 
whites, cream colors, sea water, olive and ivory. These tints are broken 
and waved by lines, striae and splashes of raw Sienna coloring, rosy 
brown, and numberless shades of other neutral browns, some inclining 
toward red and some toward green and even blue, while the surface 
everywhere varies in play of light and shade of semi-opacity and trans- 
lucence. The various slabs, no two of which are alike, are arranged 
with a certain idea of contrast, but never formally nor with regularity of 
counterchange. 

The Golden Frieze, — The wall space above the windows is filled in 
with lead, heavily gilt, constituting a sort of frieze. The ornament of 
this is a carefully studied design of arabesque or fioral pattern, beaten 
out or embossed by means of hammers, stamps and dies of various sizes 
and shapes, thus affording a varied play of light and shade on the gilt 
surface. 

The Oak Ceiling. — Above the broad frieze of beaten gold and termi- 
nating the wall are the massive carved beams of oak, more than four 
feet in depth, which constitute the framework of the ceiling. These 



ALBANY, N. Y. 



great beams are supported on stone corbels sunk into the walls and pro- 
jecting under the beams. The corbels are carved into bold and vigorous 
forms derived from foliage and flowers. The eye is easily carried to the 
western wall by the upper portion of wa'il space, which is decorated by 
the beaten frieze of gold. On this side again is the lower wall space of 
Knoxville marble. It appears, however, in greater mass than on the 
south side of the room, being only broken by the two doors of the lobby. 
Disposed in large blocks and uncarved, this marble presents an appear- 
ance of solidity and strength very necessary to a room of great size, and 
affords a powerful understructure for the support of the heavy columns 
and arches above. Although this surface is much hidden by the high- 
backed settees that line almost the entire wall of the room, enough shows 
through to give an impression of solidity and strength of construction. 
Above this lower wall of marble are three great arched spaces, occupying 
nearly the whole width of the wall and disclosing the galleries. These 
arches are supported by four massive columns of a dark, red-brown 
granite, with capitals of whitish marble, elaborately carved. The arches 
themselves are of the yellow Sienna marble, with both inner and outer 
mouldings carved. Of these arches Edward A. Freeman remarks: 

"There are parts [of the building] which I cannot at all admire, but 
there are other parts, those in which the columns and round arches are 
employed, which certainly pleased me as much as any modern building 
that I have seen for a long time. When I say that the arches in the sen- 
ate chamber seemed to me, as far as their general conception goes, 
worthy to stand at Ragusa, some will understand that I can say no more." 

Half way between the east and west walls is the main entrance of the 
corridor, and on either side of the entrance are two great open fireplaces 
jutting out into the room. The doorway and fireplaces are constructed 
of marble, as is the space between them. The openings of the fireplaces 
are about six feet in height and something more in breadth. 

The Court of Appeals. — Nine spacious rooms are assigned for the 
court of appeals, six in the third or principal story; three in the fourth 
or gallery story, the two stories being connected by an ornamented iron 
staircase. The court-room is in the southeast corner, over the executive 
chamber, and is 35 by 53 feet, and 25 feet high. It is finished in quar- 
tered red oak, timbered ceiling of the same material, with carved beams 
and deep recessed panels. The five window openings are finished wiih 
Knoxville marble, the arches resting upon carved trusses and columns 
recessed into the angles formed by the jambs and outer belting, termi- 
nating in ornamen<:al trusses. A deep carved wood string in line with 
the trusses, and the carved capitals of the marble columns, divide the 
oak paneling on the walls into two parts. The frame work of the upper 
section is filled in with large plain panels, and the intention is to deco- 
rate, by gilding, the rails. The panels are designed to be painted in 
varied designs to harmonize with the wood carving. The lower section 
below the window arches stands upon a moulded base and is filled^ in 
with double raised panels and subdivided longitudinally by carved string 
courses, containing between them a section of vertical fluted work in 



12 THE CAPITOL, 



which are fixed at intervals in carved frames the portraits of the judges, 
many of which hung in the court of appeals room of the old Capitol. 

On the west side of the room is a recessed fireplace of large dimen- 
sions, over which is displayed the arms of the state carved in the oaken 
panels of the mantel over the recess. The recess of the fire-place is 
lined with Sienna marble and has a bench- on either side of the fire-place 
of the same material. The lintel over the fire-place is also Sienna mar- 
ble richly carved and extending across the whole recess. Resting on the 
lintel is a large panel composed of several choice specimens of Mexican 
onyx skillfully arranged. 

The judges' bench has been carefully designed in style and form to suit 
the requirements and wishes of that honorable body. The front is divi- 
ded into panels set in framework; the panels are exquisitely carved in 
varied designs and separated by ornamental balusters, the whole resting 
on a moulded base. Carved in the centre panel are the arms of the 
state. There is a medallion convex of carved grotesque heads located 
along the projecting top. Perhaps no room in the building is better 
adapted to its purpose than this. Four other rooms adjacent form a con- 
tinuous suite extending north from the court-room alo.ig the eastern front. 
A room for lawyers in attendance on the court of appeals is opposite the 
court-room on the west side. 

The Southeast or Senate Staircase occupies a space 52 by 52, and 
114 feet high from basement bottom to the top of the walls. Great care 
wsrs taken in preparing and putting down the footing courses that sup- 
port this grand monumental work, and which are constructed of granite 
blocks in two courses, cut to straight and parallel thicknesses. The blocks 
of granite in the lower course are from 3 to 4 feet wide, 8 feet long and 
2 feet thick; in the upper course 7 feet long, 20 inches thick, well bonded 
with the lower course, all of which is laid and bedded in Portland cement. 
The foundations from the footing course up through the basement are 
constructed of hand-burned brick, laid and grouted in Portland cement, 
strengthened by broad skewbacks extending through the massive walls. 
The pier binders and caps are all of well wrought granite. 

The stairs start on the ground floor on the south side and extend to the 
gallery story. The great platforms and steps are of Dorchester sand- 
stone. Each story is divided into two sections by spacious intermediate 
platforms midway in each story, extending the whole distance between 
the north and south walls, a distance of 50 feet by 12 feet wide. 
The stairs are of easy ascent and grand and dignified in appearance. 
The upper landings of the stairs on each story are on platforms resting on 
the wallsat either end and supported at the cross joints by massive granite 
girders. The west walls on the ground and entrance stories form a con- 
tinuous line of niches, divided by piers and columns, embellished with 
moulded bases and carved caps. The west wall in each of the four 
stories is pierced by large openings through which light is adm.itted to 
the staircase from the court. The eastern wall in the entrance and main 
storieS'is provided with balconies, the platforms placed on a level with 
the tiled floors of the corridors adjoining. These balconies serve both as 



ALBANY, N, Y. I3 

useful and ornamental features, and are approached through the open- 
ings made in the east heretofore described. Each of the elevations on 
the east and west sides of the wall, the bases of which are on a level 
with the fioors in the various stories and intermediate platforms, is 
divided into five openings by piers Vv^ith columns recessed into the angles 
of the same, embellished with highly ornamental carved foliated caps 
of varied designs, in which are introduced allegorical figures of various 
forms, carefully studied and exquisitely executed from drawings. The <^ 
openings are spanned by pointed arches, the two outer arches extending 
over the steps. The faces of the piers and arches are decorated by 
incised ornaments, the underside of arches by flowing lines of tracery 
terminating in grotesque heads and figures. The north and south sides 
of the well are each divided into two openings, which are spanned by 
arches springing from the massive piers at the ground floor, up to and 
against the piers resting upon the caps of the centre columns, from which 
the upper span of arches spring to and against the piers of the various 
landings. These arches are constructed at an angle conforming to the 
angles of the steps and supporting the same. The vertical faces and 
soffits are decorated in a similar manner as the arches heretofore de- 
scribed, with the exception of the lower section in which spandrels are 
formed, filled in with geometrical tracery. 

Resting on the arches continuing up the steps and forming the coping 
over the same is a moulded string course, up the face of which is a deeply 
recessed and richly carved decoration. This coping and decoration 
extends along a level with all the platforms, and is divided by the piers 
at the angles. The coping, up the steps and along the platforms, is sur- 
mounted by a beautiful balustrade worked in geometrical figures and foli- 
age ornaments, on which rests a heavy moulded handrail. Richly carved 
mouldings extend along the underside of the platforms and up the soffits 
of the stairs next to the outer walls. The base and wainscoting along the 
platforms and upon a parallel line with the stairs on the outer walls are 
also executed in geometrical figures, surmounted by a moulded capping. 
All the outer walls, from the ground floor to the underside of the skylight, 
are faced with sandstone ashlar, surmounted by an enriched stone cornice, 
on which rests the iron construction supporting the skylight. This great 
monumental work is believed to be without parallel on the face of the 
globe. 

The Bureau of Military Statistics is on the fourth or gallery floor, 
west end, south side, and is open to visitors daily from g a. m. till 5 p. m. 
This collection grew out of a desire to perpetuate in some way the patri- 
otic memories of the war of the rebellion. It was at first proposed to 
erect a suitable building for the purpose, and over $30,000 was subscribed 
by towns and by individuals. This money is now on deposit, and the 
interest helps to support the bureau, which is under the charge of the 
adjutant-general. 

The objects of greatest interest are the battle-flags of the various state 
regiments, 804 in number, some of them torn in shreds, others still bear- 
ing plainly the names of the battles in which the regiments participated. 



14 



THE CAPITOL, 



These are in cases in the senate gallery corridor. There are 28 rebel 
ensigns captured from the enemy, and many other trophies to interest 
the curious. Over 3,000 photographs have been collected, and many are 
framed and on exhibition. There is also a large collection of newspapers, 
in which the history of the war was written in the time of it ; many speci- 
mens of ordnance ; some relics of the revolutionary war and of the war 
of 1812 ; an interesting collection of Lincoln memorials, including apiece 
of the bloody shirt taken from his person on the night of the assassina- 
tion. Another interesting group is the clothes worn by Col. Ellsworth when 
he was shot down in Alexandria, and the rebel flag which he took from 
the Marshall House, an act which led to his untimely death. 

The State Library. — The great library of the state, with its more than 
125,000 volumes, is magnificently housed in a continuous series of rooms 
on the third and fourth stories of the western section extending the 
entire length from north to south, except where occupied by the Board of 
Claims in the northwest pavilion, and by the Regents of the University 
in the southwest pavilion. There is also store room in the fifth story. 
The length and depth of each of these stories is about 60 by 300 feet — 
aggregating 42,400 square feet of floor surface, including the mezzanine 
floors, and with the fifth and attic story making a total of 55,600 square 
feet. The only entrance to the library is from the broad corridor in the 
third story, to the central reading or reception room, 42 by 73 feet, and two, 
stories in height (53 feet). There are two tiers of galleries across the 
north and south ends of this magnificent apartment, supported by colon- 
nades, consisting of clusters of Bay of Fundy granite columns. The ceil- 
ing is constructed of rolled wrought iron rib work, covered with iron 
lathe, plastered and painted soft blue in imitation of the sky, delicately 
tinted and shaded, forming a pleasing contrast with the soft red freestone 
of the colonnades below. The horizon is lighted up, and fleecy gather- 
ings of light clouds and Cupids have been introduced. The room is of 
highly impressive character both on account of its size and architectural 
treatment. 

North of the main room is the law library in five rooms on the third 
floor. They contain 12,500 lineal feet of quartered oak shelving. In the 
stock room on the fourth floor, also, a part of the law library, is 7,600 
lineal feet of galvanized iron shelving, making 20,100 feet in the law 
department. 

AH the apartments in the library south of the central reading room are 
devoted to general literature and include six reading rooms on the third 
floor. On the fourth floor is one room alone which has shelving for 
125,000 books. Great ingenuity has been displayed in obtaining the 
greatest amount of book room, and at the same time provide for light 
and air. For artificial light about 700 incandescent lamps will be used. 
Speaking tubes and electric call bells afford means of rapid communica- 
tion between the employees. 

The Western Staircase. — Adjoining the entrance lobby on the west 
is located the western staircase, one of the most important of the many 
beautiful works of the Capitol. The first story of these stairs is erected, 



ALBANY, N. Y. -15 



which is fully equal to one-third of the whole. The plan of this monu- 
mental work is on a liberal scale. The east and west fa9ades, as viewed 
from the lobby on the west and corridor on the east, are eighty-one feet 
in length, with seven openings on each fa9ade. The central openings, 
which are the entrances to the stairway on each floor, are fourteen feet 
wide. All the openings will be spanned by semicircular arches. The 
stairs starting from the corridors and lobby on the east and west, respec- 
tively, meet at a central landing, ten by ten feet, which is located about 
one-third of the height of each story. From this landing the stairs lead 
to the north and south, and after rising another third of the height of 
the story, each run reaches a broad landing. From each of these land- 
ings the stairs rise again, both east and west and accomplish the remain- 
der of the distance. This plan is repeated from the first to the fourth 
story. The stairs are surrounded by corridors and lobbies, which open 
on the stairs through arcades, from which varied and almost unlimited 
views of the structure will be had. The various runs and landings will 
be supported on arches and groined vaulted ceilings. The arches carry- 
ing the stairs are ramped ellipses of such a form as to accommodate 
themselves to the slopes of the stairs in a very graceful manner. 

Cost Thus Far. — The following figures, taken from the books of the 
comptroller, show the amounts actually paid each year by the state 
toward the building of the Capitol, the fiscal year ending September 30 : 

1863 $51,593 66 1877 $728,220 20 

1864 9,453 55 1878 1,075,700 00 

1865 10,860 08 1879 982,836 44 

1866 65,250 00 1880 1,008,363 56 

1867 ^ 10,000 00 1881 1,350.600 00 

1868 , 50,00000 1882 1,210,60000 

1869 451,21563 1883 1,289,29157 

1870 1,223,59773 1884 , 1,306,42530 

1871 482,942 37 1885 866,723 16 

1872 856,10698 1886 552,68162 

1873 1,175,60000 1887 51,47328 

1874. 610,275 16 1888 167,957 60 



1875 1,392,712 08 

1876 908,48792 $17,888,96789 

This includes the cost of the land with the exception of what was given 
by the city of Albany ($190,000). The latest estimate as to what it will 
cost to finish the building is three millions. 

Work yet to be Done. — The important features of the work yet to 
be done are the eastern approach, the completion of the western stair- 
case, and the tower. In the opinion of the present commissioners three 
years would be ample time in which to complete the work. The plan 
for the approaches and the tower is shown in the engraving. It is now 
proposed to complete the tower with a framed construction of rolled 
steel covered with copper; the friezes, string courses and ornamental caps 
to columns and turrets to be cast bronze. 



i6 



THE CAPITOL. 



DIRECTORY, 



Rooms in the Capitol are occupied as follows: 
First or Ground Floor. 



North Side— ^as^ End. 
Superintendent of Public Buildings. 
Superintendent of Public Works. 
Railroad Conamission. 
Entrance to Assembly Staircase. 
Storekeeper's Room. 

^yei^t End. 
Assembly Committee Rooms. 
Entrance to Elevator. 

Second or 

North Side— ^Oc<j(! End. 
Secretary of State. 
Assembly Staircase. 
Court of Appeals— Second Division. 
Dairy Commissioner. 
Entrance to Elevator. 

^yest End. 

Entrance to Elevator. 
Golden Corridor. 



South ^voY^—East Eftd. 
Insurance Department. 
Superintendent State Prisons. 
Entrance to Elevator. 
Entrance to Senate Staircase. 

West End. 
Department of Public Instruction. 
State Bar Association. 

Entrance Floor. 

South Side— .EVis^ End. 
Executive Chamber. 
Entrance to Elevator. 
Inspector General. 
Vital Statistics. 
Board of Health. 
Ad j utant-General. 
Paymaster-General. 

^Yest End. 
Attorney-General. 



North Side— ^o*^^ End. 
Assembly Parlor. 

" Document Room. 

" Post-office. 

" Cloak Room. 

Chamber. 
Entrance to Elevator. 

West End. 
Assembly Clerk. 
Speaker of Assembly. 
Assembly Library. 
Entrance to Elevator. 
State Library. 

Fourth or 
North ^yo'E.—East End. 
Committee Rooms. 
State Entomologist. 
Assembly Gallery (Gentlemen). 
Entrance to Elevator. 
Commissioner Perry's Office. 

^yest End. 

Adirondack Survey. 
Assembly Gallery (Ladies). 
Committee Rooms. 
Entrance to Elevator. 
Court of Claims. 



Third or Principal Floor. 

South Side- 
Court of Appeals. 



-East End. 



Senate Chamber. 

" Clerk. 
Entrance to Elevator. 

West End. 
Senate Cloak Room. 

" Post-office. 
Reporters' Cloak Room. 
Senate Library. 
Regents of L^niversity. 



Gallery Floor. 

South 8iDY.—East End. 
Senate Gallery (Ladies). 
State Survey, 
Factory Inspectors. 
Committee Rooms. 
Entrance to Elevator. 

West End. 
Bureau Military Statistics. 
Committee Rooms. 
Senate Gallery (Gentlemen). 

Front. 
Bureau of Labor Statistics. 
Civil Service Commission. 
Forest Commission. 




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014 108 374 






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